Rich Swann Headlines Impressive Debut Episode of WWE 205 Live

That was a solid debut for 205 Live. The show starts with a quick who’s who, with the current roster on stage. Throughout the show we get similar video packages which aired during the Cruiserweight Classic. On commentary for 205 Live are Mauro Ranallo, Corey Graves, and Austin Aries!

The first match sees The Bollywood Boys defeating Drew Gulak and Tony Nese. Great match. Nese and Gulak show off their power and strength. It amazes me to see them in the cruiserweight division. They look like main roster guys, but I’ll tell you in a moment why it’ll never happen. Funny moment from Aries I believe, asking who is in the ring, “Herp or Derp” referring to Gurv and Harv. Most high flying came from the Boyz, who win the contest with a stereo-superkick.

Post match losers interview, Gulak and Nese show why the drama needs to stay away from the cruiserweights. This was horrible. They flubbed and forced clichéd lines. Even my wife watching admitted no form of speech therapy would have saved the promo.

Backstage: The Brian Kendrick is interviewed about his upcoming title defense against Rich Swann. However, T.J. Perkins arrives and wants his rematch, and offers good luck wishes to Kendrick. Again, the drama is supposed to stay away from this show. The cruiserweights have their own show, let’s leave the soap opera on RAW, please.

Match number two features my wife’s favorite, Jack Gallagher as he gets a win over Ariya Davari. We saw some of Jackie Boy’s funny stuff, including the straightjacket. Short match, but entertaining.

Our final match of the evening is a ballet of awesome between Brian Kendrick and Rich Swann. Great chemistry with the exchange of control. Some crushing spots, a dragon-suplex by Kendrick, Swann returns with a neck-snapping back Suplex, but the big finish came after not one, not two, but three consecutive spinning high kicks from Swann, knocking out Kendrick for the pinfall and becoming the new WWE Cruiserweight Champion. A few moments where I believed this was a big tease and Kendrick would come back to win. Lots of suspense with the Captain’s Hook submission. Post match, Kendrick blames T.J. Perkins for the loss.

Great opening show, and the right ending for the first episode of 205Live.